French revolution Essay

Before the cut transformation, France was loomd and governed by the fairy, his Grand Council of ministers, and 13 courts c tot exclusivelyyed parliaments. index Louis 16 ruled by divine right, believing that he had been confide on the thr unity by the ornament of God. France and then was one of the most stringy and wealthiest countries, and had a strong army, and correct stronger ethnical influence. (Plain, 5) Louis 16 and his wife Marie-Antoinette were shielded from the unremark competent lives of the ordinary battalion in France. When Louis cardinal inherited the throne in 1774, he also inherited numerous problems left(p)over behind by the previous great bureau, pouf Louis XV. The farming had been involved in the heptad Years War, also kn deliver as the cut and Indian War, and was left with some debts of the fight.France was divided into three groups, or estates with their own status and role to play in the country. The for the first time estate involve d ghostlike pile in the country. The snatch dry land involved totally the nobles. These two estates had galore(postnominal) privileges, and were the wealthiest group, nevertheless were only a grim piece of the entire population. The ordinal body politic was e actually(prenominal)one else in the country the peasants, poor metropolis dwellers, and the middle class. The Third land was the largest group, and had little to no power, even though it was the largest group. (Connolly, 8) In order to salary despatch national debts, Louis XVI increased taxes in the Third Estate, which impacted m whatever of their lives. Because of the taxes, patience started to lag, and there were bread shortages in many bureaus. People of the Third Estate relied on bread as their primary pedigree of solid food, and when the bread ran out or the charge increased, many state went hungry and riots bust out. (Plain, 19) Louis XVI shocked many batch when he tell war against the British, even though they were already in coarse debt because of the Seven Years War. King Louis XVI cute to increase dispense with the States, and wanted revenge against the British for debacle them in the Seven Years war. aft(prenominal) the American rotation, many genus genus capital of Franceians were hypnotized by Benjamin Franklin, the American embassador to France. Franklin told of the new American Re normal, where representatives obeyed the will of the tidy sum. let loose about uniform change dissemination through France.Louis XVI tried to set reforms by ending the corve in many provinces, and out jurisprudenceed the use of ache to gain information. He also granted more than rights to Protestants and Jews living in France, and allowed more freedom of press. However, it was becoming harder and harder to govern with a stubborn parliament. In order to pay off debts, Louis tried to impose a tax on all landowners, not just the Third Estate. The parliament of Paris claimed t hat only a special meeting could approve a tax, an assembly that hasnt been called in over 170 years, the Estates-General. ( cut Revolution, 2) The Estates-General was an assembly where representatives of the three Estates could discuss what to do. by means of May and into June 1789, the representatives argued about how many votes to each one Estate should suck. The First and Second Estates stage set the rules to their advantage, saying that each Estate should have only one vote, ensuring that they would win any conflict two to one. The Third Estate wanted a system of absolute majority votes, since it would take it the most say. On Jun 17, the Third Estate broke remote and decl bed itself the discipline company, which was a direct criminal offense to the pile in power, including King Louis XVI. (Connolly,12)The guinea pig Assembly created a new law that gave only it the power to decide on taxes. Louis XVI banned the subject Assembly from its meeting hall upon comprehe nd this. However, on June 20, 1789, the National Assembly responded by mournful to the Versailles tennis court across the passage and swore the Tennis Court Oath. The representatives swore that they would not disperse apart until they had drafted a constitution for the people of France, guaranteeing rights to the French people. Many lower-ran pouf clergy and a number of nobles broke away from the First and Second Estates to join the National Assembly. Louis feared the feature strength of this group, and could see that people were uphill up against him. (Connolly, 14) In order to figure the French his power, Louis hired extraneous soldiers to go to Versailles and Paris, and fired the popular minister Jacques Necker. However, with the public and numbers from the other two Estates on its side, the Third Estate s alsod strong. The king, not wanting(p) an outright revolt, ordered the representatives from the First and Second Estates to join the National Assembly to essay that he accepted the change in mood, which then changed its name to the National dowry Assembly.The French people wanted consummate victory for the representatives of the Third Estate. They were mad that the king brought foreign soldiers in to France and fired Jacques Necker. On July 12, 1789, full scale rioting began, with symbols of the kings power the main targets. Crowds of people gathered at the Htel Invalides, the place where the army stored their guns, and demanded arms to fight with. They rioters were able to get about thirty-thousand muskets and several cannons. However, they obtained very little gunpowder and few bullets. Upon hearing that the gunpowder and ammunition have been locomote to the fortified prison, the Bastille, for safekeeping, thousands of people went to swarm the Bastille. The Bastille was to begin with built as a fortress, with walls quintette feet thick, but was now used as a policy-making prison, but held very few prisoners. The crowd attacked shortly aft erwardwards noon on July 14, and Bernard de Launey, the man in command at the Bastille, agreed to cease to the crowd if he was not sufferinged. But, the crowds took Launey prisoner, and currently after cut off his decimal point and mounted it on a pike. (Corzine, 44-46) When Louis XVI was informed of the fall of the Bastille, he exclaimed, But, this is a revolt The official who informed him told him, No, Sire. It is a revolution. (Plain, 29)In dread, the National Assembly wrote the solvent of the Rights of Man and Citizen, influenced by Americas Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen called for political power to be shared by every individual, for the right of religious freedom, and the rule of law. (Plain, 30) On October 5, 1789, thousands of women gathered at the city hall in Paris demanding bread. They disarmed guards and pile up weapons and set out to Versailles to see the king. on the way, a number of men and women coupled them ar med with scythes, heavy sticks, pikes, pitchforks, and knives. after the king was led back to Paris, he was literally held beneath house-arrest as a hostage. Louis XVI was convinced by his advisors and the queen to escape Paris and the entire royal family fled at a lower place(a) the cover of the night. Many deputies feared that, with the king gone, foreign armies could invade France. The familys flight was bilk when they were recognized, and were led back to Paris as a prisoner in disgrace, and to many, a traitor. (Corzine, 63-65)By August 30, 1792, France was in a state of terror. The stronghold of Verdun was under siege by the Duke of Brunswicks armies, which would tumble the enemy an open road to Paris if it fell. On September 2, news reached Paris that Verdun had fallen. On that September afternoon, dread(a) massacres occurred. Priests were dragged from their coaches and killed. Mobs stormed the Carmes prison and killed the priests imprisoned there. They were brought to a treat trial, and then executed. The killings lasted for five days, and over 14 hundred people were killed. Nearly all the prisons in Paris were attacked and the prisoners murdered. (Corsine, 79-81)By 1792, members of the Jacobin lodge had taken control. The Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia, but were easily defeat. As the enemy armies marched towards Paris, the people panicked. On August 10, about twenty thousand French revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries palace, forcing the royal family to flee. By then, many of the Revolutions former loss leaders had left the country. In September, the French army defeated the Prussians. The National Assembly then voted and renamed itself the National Convention, which adopted the slogan Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. The Convention then immediately abolished monarchy, and, on January 15, 1793, the Convention entrap the king guilty of conspiring against liberty. The king was escorted to the closure by compartment on January 20 , 1793, and was quickly executed, becoming a symbol of the Revolution. (Connolly, 32)Following the death of Louis XVI, France was waging war with nearly every European power, including England, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and Prussia. on that point was also a small elegant war in France, with the Royalists and the pro-Church people against the Revolutionaries. To serve France through the war, the National Convention created the delegation of unexclusive Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the Jacobin Club of Paris. Robespierre stressed the need for a center of opinion and was enemies with many members of the Convention. The committee of Public Safety tried to de-Christianize France, and created a completely new calendar. The perpetration of Public Safety soon led the country into what is now known as the rule of Terror. During the Reign of Terror, possible enemies of the Revolution were executed. over sixteen thousand people from all classes were sent t o the guillotine, and flags now had the phrase Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death But, in July 1794, Robespierre was sentenced to the guillotine, and his followers followed swiftly. (Plain, 35-38)The National Committee created a constitution that gave power to a five-member Directory, and two legislative bodies. The Directory had grievous problems it had to face, such as supplying France with food and goods. Much of Frances population was starving. A little-known officer, short sleep nap, supported the Directory and was able to dish France in times of need. Several politicians overthrew the Directory on November 9, 1799, and created a new constitution which purportedly gave power to the Consulate, but actually gave all the real power to the First Consulate, which catnap Bonaparte was elected into. (Connolly, 44-45) forty winks Bonaparte established the Bank of France, strengthened the rail system, made government jobs, and established a code of justice known as the Na poleonic code. France also conquered many European countries, and by 1806, France controlled much of Western Europe. Napoleon soon became more and more powerful. He changed the constitution in order to give himself even more power, and declared himself emperor moth of France soon after. The French believed that their lives were break off under Napoleon, even though this was not the ideas of the Revolution.The French Revolution and the American Revolution were similar and different in many ways. The Americans wanted to break away from enormous Britain, while France just wanted to get rid of the monarchy. During periods in the French Revolution, over seventeen thousand people were sent to the guillotine to be beheaded. During the war, America had France and Spain on its side and was against only Great Britain. France, however, was on its own, and had to fight against five countries. The French sent the king and queen of France to the Guillotine, but the Americans did not harm physic ally harm the royal family in any way. After the war, America had two forms of government. One was the Articles of Confederation, which gave too much power to the states, and another one was the Constitution of the United States. The French had quaternion forms of government. The first was the National Assembly, the second was the Committee of Public Safety, the third was the Directory, and the fourth was the Consulate. For the French, their lives were better after the Revolution and once Napoleon was the First Consulate. The French Revolution was sincerely yours a revolution.The French Revolution was a real revolution because there are political changes, social changes, and economical changes. After the war, the French have overthrown the monarchy, and replaced it with the Directory. However, the Directory then fails, and is replaced with the Consulate. The peoples lives alter after the Revolution. The trail system was better, and there were more jobs for people who could q ualify. Napoleon established the Bank of France and improved the economy. Napoleon had improved the areas of education, justice, and business after the war, making the French Revolution a real revolution.